After her scene stealing appearance in the Queen's diamonds on Tuesday night, the Duchess of Cambridge was back to earth with a bump in grittier surroundings today.

But she still stood out a mile in a new kingfisher blue dress by LK Bennett and black suede heels as she arrived to officially open The ICAP Art Room at Northolt High School in west London.

Kate has been Royal Patron of The Art Room charity since 2012. It is a national charity which offers art as therapy to children and young people aged five to 16 who are facing challenges in their lives.

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After her scene stealing appearance in the Queen's diamonds on Tuesday night, the Duchess of Cambridge was back to earth with a bump in grittier surroundings today

Its programme helps youngsters to grow in self-confidence and self-esteem and, hopefully, engage in their education.

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Kensington Palace said the Duchess chose to link herself to the charity as it ‘reflects her interest in the arts and her particular interest in using the creativity of art to enrich the lives of young people’.With studios in Oxford and London, Northolt High School has been chosen as the charity’s seventh venture as it is a school serving a diverse population.

The Duchess battled the west London winds as she arrived to open a new art room at a London school

Kate's long brunette locks blew around her face as the wintry weather took hold

While she may not have been wearing a designer label Kate still stood out in a blue dress by LK Bennett

The Duchess was greeted by raucous applause by the school’s 1,000 pupils when she arrived in the school hall, before moving on to the Art Room itself, where she sat with children attending an art therapy session and chatted to each one in turn.

The Art Room offers art therapy to children aged five to 16 years old who are facing challenges in their lives, and has six other studios at schools in Oxfordshire and London.

Northolt’s Art Room was funded with £105,000 raised by the City firm ICAP, which holds a charity day every year at which guests including the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have in the past stood in as traders to raise money on the phones. The firm donates all of its revenue and commissions made on the day to charity.

Up to 60 children each week will use the Art Room, some of them coming from neighbouring schools, working with art therapists in group sessions designed to build up their self-confidence and self-esteem. It has been proven to reduce children’s emotional and behavioural problems.

The Duchess was greeted by raucous applause by the school’s 1,000 pupils when she arrived in the school hall

A delighted Kate was presented with a posy by Atoria Mason, 13, and Tim Garner, 14, and spent time meeting school teachers, governors and Art Room staff during the visit

Jon Snow, Patron of The Art Room,
said: ‘The Duchess thinks there should be an Art Room in every school in
Britain. If you can prevent a child from being excluded you’re probably
preventing a child ending up in a young offenders institution.

'Kids
who come in in crisis emerge confident and with their self-esteem
boosted, and there is no stigma attached to spending time in the Art
Room.’

Kate spent time in the new Art Room where she sat with children attending an art therapy session and chatted to each one in turn

Up to 60 children each week will use the Art Room, some of them coming from neighbouring schools

Kensington Palace said the Duchess chose to link herself to the charity as it ¿reflects her interest in the arts and her particular interest in using the creativity of art to enrich the lives of young people¿

Northolt’s Art Room was funded with £105,000 raised by the City firm ICAP, which holds a charity day every year at which guests including the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have in the past stood in as traders to raise money on the phones

Jon Snow, Patron of The Art Room, said: ‘The Duchess thinks there should be an Art Room in every school in Britain.'

Kate was presented
with a posy by Atoria Mason, 13, and Tim Garner, 14, and spent time
meeting school teachers, governors and Art Room staff during the visit,
which was only the second public engagement the Duchess has carried out
this year.

Juli
Beattie, founder director of The Art Room, said: ‘Every human being
needs time to be listened to, to have a cup of tea and to be nurtured.

‘When
children come to us they suddenly realise that they are as able as any
other child and as talented. And to have the Duchess, who studied
history of art and knows the power of art in making a difference to the
children, is so important to us.’

Jewellery-lover Kate wore a pair of £1,200 diamond drop earrings by Kiki McDonough, a slightly less flashy design than the priceless Cartier necklace she wore earlier in the week

Kate wore a similar style by the jeweller to Cheltenham races last year (l) and today's design featured green amethyst and diamonds (r)

Gloria
Lowe, head teacher of the school, said: ‘There is no doubt the children
using the Art Room are better placed academically and less likely to
behave in a way that would stop them from achieving.’

Later this year The Art Room will open its eighth and ninth studios in Edinburgh and London.

ICAP staff also volunteered their time to help refurbish the room to become a bright, new studio.Chairman of the charity's trustees, Jonathan Lloyd-Jones said: 'The Duchess has taken a genuine interest in what we have done. It has been a real commitment on her part and we feel very privileged.'

Meanwhile husband William donned waterproofs and made an unannounced trip to Datchet with his brother Prince Harry to help move sandbags being used to defend properties in the flood-hit Berkshire village

Meanwhile
husband William donned waders and waterproofs and made an unannounced
trip to Datchet with his brother Prince Harry to help move sandbags
being used to defend properties in the flood-hit Berkshire village.

The
royal brothers formed a human chain with troops from the Household
Cavalry - Harry's regiment - to move sandbags off a lorry.

Kate looked ever so regal at a dinner for London’s National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday wearing a Jenny Packham gown and a diamond necklace borrowed from the Queen

The Cartier diamond, known as the Nizam of Hyderabad, was given to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947 for her wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh

ACCESSORIES MAKE THE DRESS: PRICELESS NECKLACE THE QUEEN LOANED TO KATE

The
Nizam of Hyderabad asked the Queen to choose two pieces from Cartier to
mark her wedding in 1947 - and the then Princess Elizabeth chose a tiara and a
necklace based on an English rose.

The
tiara was subsequently broken up to create other pieces but the
necklace remains intact. The Queen wears it occasionally still today.

Queen Elizabeth II pictured in 1953 wearing the necklace, a wedding present from the Nizam of Hyderabad

The Nizam of Hyderabad necklace was originally created by Cartier in 1930s.

It
consists of a long chain of 38 diamonds (reduced from the original 46)
with a diamond-encrusted snap. The centre of the necklace is pave-set
with detachable double-drop pendant, 13 emerald-cut diamonds and a
pear-shaped drop.

The original necklace consisted of eight double-drop and three triple-drop pendants.

However,
nine of the pendants (all eight double-drop and the larger of the
triple-drop pendants) were later removed and sold separately.

The necklace itself found its first owner in 1936 but Cartier repurchased it a year later.